2016 Russian Grand Prix – Nico Rosberg on pole

Press call (photo by FIA)

Press call  (photo by FIA) Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes),  Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari) and Valtteri BOTTAS (Williams)

Nico, in China you said you had looked forward to the battle with Lewis and it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen here again today. That’s obviously gives you a good opportunity tomorrow but how disappointing is that for you?
NR: No, I can’t say I’m disappointed after today. All in all I’m really satisfied because it really felt great out there. It was awesome balance. We got my car together well for qualifying and from Q2 onwards it was just going great. Sao I’m really satisfied with that and that’s a good sign for tomorrow’s race and that’s about it.

Sebastian, the gap was quite significant, were you surprised by that? What’s the recovery plan for tomorrow?
SV: Well, obviously Nico starts from pole, which I think he deserves; he has done a great job today in all sessions. For us obviously with the penalty we are a bit further back. Kit would be nice to start on the front row, but it doesn’t happen. But nevertheless I think we can have a very good race. The car feels good. Obviously we know that on Saturdays we are probably a little bit still further back than we want and a bit further back than on Sundays, so high hopes for tomorrow. As I said the car feels good. I think we’ve done our homework, so I expect a strong race. Obviously it’s never easy when you start further back – overtaking is possible but usually people don’t wave you past, so we’ll have to work for it but it should be good fun.

Q: Valtteri, third time here qualifying in third place, you start second. Power was obviously a significant element of today’s qualifying. Did today’s qualifying bring Williams back to where it should be?
VB: Well, obviously we want to be higher than this, of course. I think this season it is extremely difficult to beat Ferrari and Mercedes. Of course we’re trying to really close the gap but it is nice that now, today, we’re clear of Red Bull and Toro Rosso who’ve been really challenging us in the last few races. So I’m pleased with today, with the result, and it gives us a good position for the race tomorrow to really make some good points. We need those points so, pleased with today. It was all about team-work and bringing some updates here, so also people at the factory have been doing the right job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboSport.com) Nico, from Q1 to Q2 you did a great step in performance. Did you change the car? Did you put more power in the engine? And, also a question to Bottas: if your performance here related to the new aero front you have in the car or maybe to the characteristics of this track?
NR: Q2, that’s when it really came together for me. It felt just so great out there. It was mainly the front flap. Went up on the front flap to take away some understeer – so that was good. I thought there would be some downsides but it was just positives.

Valtteri?
VB: I think it’s both, to be honest. The updates we bring here, they help us a bit, and also the track suits us better than the first three races so far. So I think it is a combination of both – but I would really hope, I would like us to be better than the first three races in the coming races, so we need to keep progressing.

Q: (Vladimir Rogovets – Belarus Segoduya ) My question to Nico. Your partner Lewis Hamilton has a lot of problems this year and you, from last year to today are showing very, very good stability. How long will you be staying without engine problems?
NR: I need the crystal ball now. You have one? We look together! I don’t know, I can’t look into the future. You’re saying this year: it’s only three and a half races from 21. You can’t really say ‘this year’, it’s been a couple of races and yes, it’s been consistently working well for me and I’m happy about that but normally over a season – and especially over 21 races – in F1 things have always evened-out at the end of the year.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Sebastian wanted to challenge Mercedes this year but now it seems that the gap gets bigger rather than smaller. Is that a concern for you?
SV: I don’t know. Bloody Germans! Always pessimistic. Show some optimism! I think it’s only three and a half races. We’ve hah… yeah… quite a trip so far with not everything going according to plan. We could have won the first race if things go a little bit different. So overall, it’s not so bad. We have shown great pace, especially on Sunday, and that’s where you get the points. We know that we need to work and we are pushing very hard – but it’s not so easy. Mercedes is doing a great job, those two guys driving the car are going a good job, so it’s a difficult team to beat. We are not playing… it’s not a kindergarten, I think it’s for grown-ups and therefore the challenge is tough – but ultimately we want to be the best so we need to be ready to tackle the best and, so far, we’re very optimistic we can turn it around.

Q: (Krill Zaytsev – 66.ru) Question for Sebastian. After a penalty tomorrow do you have chances to get a podium. Here in Sochi there are lots of straights and your engine works good here – so do you have any chances to get up?
SV. Yes. Obviously when you qualify second, that’s were you sort-of belong. With a penalty you start further back and I think we’re quicker than those cars so I think we have a good chance to make progress. Having said that, it’s never easy. Yes, there are straights – but there’s also a couple of corners, we know it’s not so easy to follow, etcetera. So, we’ll see.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – GloboSport.com) Sebastian. Once you would be penalised, did you expect your team-mate could be in the first row in order to help your team?
SV: Well, I don’t know how the session went for him, obviously. Once qualifying kicks off, it’s very difficult to know what happens on the other side. You’re quite busy yourself/. I think Nico said the same thing before: he doesn’t know what happened to Lewis. I don’t know if he had an issue but we’ve been fairly close this weekend, so I think it would have been ideal for him to be third today and therefore starting on the front row – but equally, being third and on the clean side is not bad either. It’s a long way to Turn One, so I think still as a team we are positioned probably as good as possible.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, have you found with the new power unit some benefit today?
SV: Well, we brought it here, it was always the plan, we brought it because we believe it is better. As of now, it is doing what it should, so I’m confident that it helps us today and tomorrow.

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